Athlete's Dad: My Son Was `Persecuted'

Seminole School Board Hears Challenge To Policy

December 16, 1998|By Leslie Postal of The Sentinel Staff

SANFORD - In an emotional statement, the father of a Seminole High School football player told the School Board on Tuesday he is challenging its citizenship policy because his son was ``persecuted'' by administrators who didn't properly enforce it.

Though sorry the challenge has turned into a lengthy, convoluted, ``three-attorney circus,'' Tom Moore said he had no choice but to stand up for his child.

Lee Moore and Jeremy Taylor, both Seminole High football players, face 30-day team suspensions for violating the policy. Their parents are appealing to the Seminole County School Board, challenging the legality and fairness of the policy.

The Moores and Taylors say administrators suspended the teens prematurely and failed to impose sanctions against other players who admitted they drank, too.

The policy regulates off-campus behavior of students who participate in sports or other extracurricular activities. Moore and Taylor admitted to school officials that they drank or served alcohol during a Labor Day beach outing. Under the policy, drinking, taking drugs, gambling, smoking or possessing a fake identification are prohibited for school athletes, even on weekends or holidays.

School officials defend the policy, saying playing sports is a privilege, not a right, and they can hold those students to a higher standard of conduct. They admit administrators might have made a few minor missteps, but they say the sanctions should still be imposed against Moore and Taylor. They say they did not impose sanctions on three other accused players because the evidence against them was insufficient.

Tom Moore was the last witness to testify during the teenagers' appeal hearing to the School Board. On Jan. 12, the board will deliberate and likely decide whether to uphold the suspensions.

Howard Marks, the teens' attorney, expects the board will decide against his clients, and then they'll decide whether to appeal to the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.

Seminole High's football season ended Nov. 13. The players' suspensions were put on hold while they appealed, so neither missed any games. Moore, who was injured in September, was out for the season anyway.

Tom Moore said he wasn't making excuses for his son's behavior at New Smyrna Beach, where the 16-year-old said he got so drunk he passed out. ``I've punished him,'' he said.

But the way the principal handled the matter allowed the untrue rumor to circulate through the school that his son was a ``traitor'' who had betrayed his teammates.

``He'd been ostracized from his friends. He'd been ostracized from his team,'' Tom Moore said.

``We're here because my son was persecuted. As a father I had to do something to protect my son.''